During an appearance on Fox News on Saturday, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain weighed in on critical remarks recently made by Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman about the Tea Party.

Freeman said it unnerves him that the conservative movement is garnering momentum during an appearance on CNN last week.

"Their stated policy, publicly stated, is to do whatever it takes to see to it that Obama only serves one term," he said. "What underlines that? Screw the country. We’re going to do whatever we do to get this black man, we can, we’re going to do whatever we can to get this black man out of here."

Freeman characterized the actions of the Tea Party as "racist" and suggested that Obama's presidency has only fueled the rise of the coalition of conservative activists, and in that context has made the issue of racism "worse." He said, "It just shows the weak, dark underside of America. We're supposed to be better than that. We really are. That's why all those people were in tears when Obama was elected president. Look at what we are, you know? And then it just sort of started turning, because these people surfaced like stirring up muddy water."

On the heels of his surprise win in the Florida straw poll this weekend, Cain, took issue with what Freeman had to say.

"Well, first of all, I doubt if Morgan Freeman, with all due respect, who is a great actor, has ever been to a Tea Party," said the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza. "Most of the people that are criticizing the Tea Parties ... about having a racist element, they have never been to a Tea Party."

Cain signaled that he was not offended by Freeman's remarks, but explained, "I just think that it is sad that they’re so short-sighted in really understanding what the whole Tea Party citizen movement is all about." He added, "So, name calling is something that’s going to continue in this because they don’t know how to stop this movement. And this movement is making a big difference in politics, because a lot of the traditional Democrats are moving to the center or moving over to vote for conservatives. They’re taking another look at a Herman Cain."

Below, video of Freeman's remarks:

WATCH:

For more on Herman Cain, check out the slideshow below:

Moments From Herman Cain's Campaign

Moments From Herman Cain's Campaign

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Positive Intensity

A relative unknown upon his entry into the race, Herman Cain has experienced promising numbers in both name recognition, as well as the new metric of "positive intensity." These upward trends have since propelled him to the top of many GOP primary polls.
In late June, a Gallup poll showed Cain's name recognition up 25 percent from earlier in the year, to 46 percent. Meanwhile, his positive intensity score stood at 24, among the highest of any candidate in the field.
Enthusiastic supporters have also helped Cain take impressive wins at a variety of early straw poll events. He's taken the top spot at the Western Conservative Summit, the Georgia GOP Straw Poll in August (Georgia is Cain's home state), and more recently in Florida and Chicago.
Cain also won a February straw poll at an Arizona Tea Party event, beating Ron Paul in a vote among attendees, though at the time he was the only officially declared 2012 candidate involved.